One Story That Leads to Jesus, Day 170
Jeremiah 7
7The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,H1697H3414H3068H5592“Go to the entrance of the Lord’s Temple, and give this message to the people: ‘O Judah, listen to this message from the Lord! Listen to it, all of you who worship here!H5975H8179H3068H1004H7121H1697H559H8085H1697H3068H3063H935H8179H7812H30683This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “‘Even now, if you quit your evil ways, I will let you stay in your own land.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H3190H1870H4611H7931H47254But don’t be fooled by those who promise you safety simply because the Lord’s Temple is here. They chant, “The Lord’s Temple is here! The Lord’s Temple is here!”H982H8267H1697H559H1964H3068H1964H3068H1964H30685But I will be merciful only if you stop your evil thoughts and deeds and start treating each other with justice;H3190H3190H1870H4611H6213H6213H4941H376H74536only if you stop exploiting foreigners, orphans, and widows; only if you stop your murdering; and only if you stop harming yourselves by worshiping idols.H6231H1616H3490H490H8210H5355H1818H4725H3212H310H312H430H74517Then I will let you stay in this land that I gave to your ancestors to keep forever.H7931H4725H776H5414H1H5704H5769H57698“‘Don’t be fooled into thinking that you will never suffer because the Temple is here. It’s a lie!H982H8267H1697H32769Do you really think you can steal, murder, commit adultery, lie, and burn incense to Baal and all those other new gods of yours,H1589H7523H5003H7650H8267H6999H1168H1980H310H312H430H304510and then come here and stand before me in my Temple and chant, “We are safe!”—only to go right back to all those evils again?H935H5975H6440H1004H7121H8034H559H5337H6213H844111Don’t you yourselves admit that this Temple, which bears my name, has become a den of thieves? Surely I see all the evil going on there. I, the Lord, have spoken!H1004H7121H8034H4631H6530H5869H7200H5002H306812“‘Go now to the place at Shiloh where I once put the Tabernacle that bore my name. See what I did there because of all the wickedness of my people, the Israelites.H3212H4725H7887H7931H8034H7223H7200H6213H6440H7451H5971H347813While you were doing these wicked things, says the Lord, I spoke to you about it repeatedly, but you would not listen. I called out to you, but you refused to answer.H6213H4639H5002H3068H1696H7925H1696H8085H7121H603014So just as I destroyed Shiloh, I will now destroy this Temple that bears my name, this Temple that you trust in for help, this place that I gave to you and your ancestors.H6213H1004H7121H8034H982H4725H5414H1H6213H788715And I will send you out of my sight into exile, just as I did your relatives, the people of Israel.’H7993H6440H7993H251H2233H66916“Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, and don’t beg me to help them, for I will not listen to you.H6419H5971H5375H7440H8605H1157H6293H808517Don’t you see what they are doing throughout the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem?H7200H6213H5892H3063H2351H338918No wonder I am so angry! Watch how the children gather wood and the fathers build sacrificial fires. See how the women knead dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. And they pour out liquid offerings to their other idol gods!H1121H3950H6086H1H1197H784H802H3888H1217H6213H3561H4446H8064H5258H5262H312H430H370719Am I the one they are hurting?” asks the Lord. “Most of all, they hurt themselves, to their own shame.”H3707H5002H3068H1322H644020So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “I will pour out my terrible fury on this place. Its people, animals, trees, and crops will be consumed by the unquenchable fire of my anger.”H559H136H3069H639H2534H5413H4725H120H929H6086H7704H6529H127H1197H351821This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves!H559H3068H6635H430H3478H5595H5930H2077H398H132022When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them.H1696H1H6680H3117H3318H776H4714H1697H5930H207723This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’H1697H6680H559H8085H6963H430H5971H1980H1870H6680H319024“But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.H8085H5186H241H3212H4156H8307H7451H3820H268H644025From the day your ancestors left Egypt until now, I have continued to send my servants, the prophets—day in and day out.H3117H1H3318H776H4714H3117H7971H5650H5030H3117H7925H797126But my people have not listened to me or even tried to hear. They have been stubborn and sinful—even worse than their ancestors.H8085H5186H241H7185H6203H7489H127“Tell them all this, but do not expect them to listen. Shout out your warnings, but do not expect them to respond.H1696H1697H8085H7121H603028Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips.H559H1471H8085H6963H3068H430H3947H4148H530H6H3772H631029Shave your head in mourning, and weep alone on the mountains. For the Lord has rejected and forsaken this generation that has provoked his fury.’H1494H5145H7993H5375H7015H8205H3068H3988H5203H1755H567830“The people of Judah have sinned before my very eyes,” says the Lord. “They have set up their abominable idols right in the Temple that bears my name, defiling it.H1121H3063H6213H7451H5869H5002H3068H7760H8251H1004H7121H8034H293031They have built pagan shrines at Topheth, the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and there they burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!H1129H1116H8612H1516H1121H2011H8313H1121H1323H784H6680H5927H382032So beware, for the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when that garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. They will bury the bodies in Topheth until there is no more room for them.H3117H935H5002H3068H559H8612H1516H1121H2011H1516H2028H6912H8612H369H472533The bodies of my people will be food for the vultures and wild animals, and no one will be left to scare them away.H5038H5971H3978H5775H8064H929H776H272934I will put an end to the happy singing and laughter in the streets of Jerusalem. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard in the towns of Judah. The land will lie in complete desolation.H7673H5892H3063H2351H3389H6963H8342H6963H8057H6963H2860H6963H3618H776H2723
Jeremiah 8
8“In that day,” says the Lord, “the enemy will break open the graves of the kings and officials of Judah, and the graves of the priests, prophets, and common people of Jerusalem.H6256H5002H3068H3318H6106H4428H3063H6106H8269H6106H3548H6106H5030H6106H3427H3389H69132They will spread out their bones on the ground before the sun, moon, and stars—the gods my people have loved, served, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up again or buried but will be scattered on the ground like manure.H7849H8121H3394H6635H8064H157H5647H310H1980H1875H7812H622H6912H1828H6440H1273And the people of this evil nation who survive will wish to die rather than live where I will send them. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!H4194H977H2416H7611H7604H7451H4940H7604H4725H5080H5002H3068H66354“Jeremiah, say to the people, ‘This is what the Lord says: “‘When people fall down, don’t they get up again? When they discover they’re on the wrong road, don’t they turn back?H559H559H3068H5307H6965H7725H77255Then why do these people stay on their self-destructive path? Why do the people of Jerusalem refuse to turn back? They cling tightly to their lies and will not turn around.H5971H3389H7725H5329H4878H2388H8649H3985H77256I listen to their conversations and don’t hear a word of truth. Is anyone sorry for doing wrong? Does anyone say, “What a terrible thing I have done”? No! All are running down the path of sin as swiftly as a horse galloping into battle!H7181H8085H1696H376H5162H5921H7451H559H6213H7725H4794H5483H7857H44217Even the stork that flies across the sky knows the time of her migration, as do the turtledove, the swallow, and the crane. They all return at the proper time each year. But not my people! They do not know the Lord’s laws.H2624H8064H3045H4150H8449H5483H5693H8104H6256H935H5971H3045H4941H30688“‘How can you say, “We are wise because we have the word of the Lord,” when your teachers have twisted it by writing lies?H559H2450H8451H3068H403H8267H6213H5842H5608H82679These wise teachers will fall into the trap of their own foolishness, for they have rejected the word of the Lord. Are they so wise after all?H2450H3001H2865H3920H3988H1697H3068H245110I will give their wives to others and their farms to strangers. From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. Yes, even my prophets and priests are like that. They are all frauds.H5414H802H312H7704H3423H6996H1419H1214H1215H5030H3548H6213H826711They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.H7495H7667H1323H5971H7043H559H7965H7965H796512Are they ashamed of these disgusting actions? Not at all—they don’t even know how to blush! Therefore, they will lie among the slaughtered. They will be brought down when I punish them, says the Lord.H3001H6213H8441H954H954H3045H3637H5307H5307H6256H6486H3782H559H306813I will surely consume them. There will be no more harvests of figs and grapes. Their fruit trees will all die. Whatever I gave them will soon be gone. I, the Lord, have spoken!’H622H5486H5002H3068H6025H1612H8384H8384H5929H5034H5414H567414“Then the people will say, ‘Why should we wait here to die? Come, let’s go to the fortified towns and die there. For the Lord our God has decreed our destruction and has given us a cup of poison to drink because we sinned against the Lord.H3427H622H935H4013H5892H1826H3068H430H1826H4325H7219H8248H2398H306815We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.’H6960H7965H2896H6256H4832H120516“The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heard all the way from the land of Dan in the north! The neighing of their stallions makes the whole land tremble. They are coming to devour the land and everything in it—cities and people alike.H5170H5483H8085H1835H776H7493H6963H4684H47H935H398H776H4393H5892H342717I will send these enemy troops among you like poisonous snakes you cannot charm. They will bite you, and you will die. I, the Lord, have spoken!”H7971H5175H6848H3908H5391H5002H306818My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken.H4010H3015H3820H174219Listen to the weeping of my people; it can be heard all across the land. “Has the Lord abandoned Jerusalem?” the people ask. “Is her King no longer there?” “Oh, why have they provoked my anger with their carved idols and their worthless foreign gods?” says the Lord.H6963H7775H1323H5971H4801H776H3068H6726H4428H3707H6456H5236H189220“The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone,” the people cry, “yet we are not saved!”H7105H5674H7019H3615H346721I hurt with the hurt of my people. I mourn and am overcome with grief.H7667H1323H5971H7665H6937H8047H238822Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?H6875H1568H7495H3588H724H1323H5971H5927
Jeremiah 9
9If only my head were a pool of water and my eyes a fountain of tears, I would weep day and night for all my people who have been slaughtered.H5414H7218H4325H5869H4726H1832H1058H3119H3915H2491H1323H5971 2Oh, that I could go away and forget my people and live in a travelers’ shack in the desert. For they are all adulterers—a pack of treacherous liars.H5414H4057H4411H732H5800H5971H3212H5003H6116H898 3“My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot out lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. They only go from bad to worse. They do not know me,” says the Lord.H1869H3956H7198H8267H1396H530H776H3318H7451H7451H3045H5002H3068 4“Beware of your neighbor! Don’t even trust your brother! For brother takes advantage of brother, and friend slanders friend.H8104H376H7453H982H251H251H6117H6117H7453H1980H7400 5They all fool and defraud each other; no one tells the truth. With practiced tongues they tell lies; they wear themselves out with all their sinning.H2048H376H7453H1696H571H3925H3956H1696H8267H3811H5753 6They pile lie upon lie and utterly refuse to acknowledge me,” says the Lord.H3427H8432H4820H4820H3985H3045H5002H3068 7Therefore, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “See, I will melt them down in a crucible and test them like metal. What else can I do with my people?H559H3068H6635H6884H974H6213H6440H1323H5971 8For their tongues shoot lies like poisoned arrows. They speak friendly words to their neighbors while scheming in their heart to kill them.H3956H2671H7819H1696H4820H1696H7965H7453H6310H7130H7760H696 9Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?”H6485H5002H3068H5315H5358H1471 10I will weep for the mountains and wail for the wilderness pastures. For they are desolate and empty of life; the lowing of cattle is heard no more; the birds and wild animals have all fled.H2022H5375H1065H5092H4999H4057H7015H3341H376H5674H8085H6963H4735H5775H8064H929H5074H1980 11“I will make Jerusalem into a heap of ruins,” says the Lord. “It will be a place haunted by jackals. The towns of Judah will be ghost towns, with no one living in them.”H5414H3389H1530H4583H8577H5414H5892H3063H8077H3427 12Who is wise enough to understand all this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it to others? Why has the land been so ruined that no one dares to travel through it?H2450H376H995H6310H3068H1696H5046H776H6H3341H4057H5674 13The Lord replies, “This has happened because my people have abandoned my instructions; they have refused to obey what I said.H3068H559H5800H8451H5414H6440H8085H6963H1980 14Instead, they have stubbornly followed their own desires and worshiped the images of Baal, as their ancestors taught them.H3212H310H8307H3820H310H1168H1H3925 15So now, this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: Look! I will feed them with bitterness and give them poison to drink.H559H3068H6635H430H3478H398H5971H3939H4325H7219H8248 16I will scatter them around the world, in places they and their ancestors never heard of, and even there I will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely.”H6327H1471H1H3045H7971H2719H310H3615 17This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “Consider all this, and call for the mourners. Send for the women who mourn at funerals.H559H3068H6635H995H7121H6969H935H7971H2450H935 18Quick! Begin your weeping! Let the tears flow from your eyes.H4116H5375H5092H5869H3381H1832H6079H5140H4325 19Hear the people of Jerusalem crying in despair, ‘We are ruined! We are completely humiliated! We must leave our land, because our homes have been torn down.’”H6963H5092H8085H6726H7703H3966H954H5800H776H4908H7993 20Listen, you women, to the words of the Lord; open your ears to what he has to say. Teach your daughters to wail; teach one another how to lament.H8085H1697H3068H802H241H3947H1697H6310H3925H1323H5092H802H7468H7015 21For death has crept in through our windows and has entered our mansions. It has killed off the flower of our youth: Children no longer play in the streets, and young men no longer gather in the squares.H4194H5927H2474H935H759H3772H5768H2351H970H7339 22This is what the Lord says: “Bodies will be scattered across the fields like clumps of manure, like bundles of grain after the harvest. No one will be left to bury them.”H1696H5002H3068H5038H120H5307H1828H6440H7704H5995H310H7114H622 23This is what the Lord says: “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches.H559H3068H2450H1984H2451H1368H1984H1369H6223H1984H6239 24But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!H1984H1984H7919H3045H3068H6213H2617H4941H6666H776H2654H5002H3068 25“A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit—H3117H935H5002H3068H6485H4135H6190 26the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places, and yes, even the people of Judah. And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”H4714H3063H123H1121H5983H4124H7112H6285H3427H4057H1471H6189H1004H3478H6189H3820
Psalms 15
15[A psalm of David.] Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill?H4210H1732H3068H1481H168H7931H6944H2022 2Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts.H1980H8549H6466H6664H1696H571H3824 3Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends.H7270H3956H6213H7451H7453H5375H2781H7138 4Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the LORD, and keep their promises even when it hurts.H5869H3988H959H3513H3373H3068H7650H7489H4171 5Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever.H5414H3701H5392H3947H7810H5355H6213H5769H4131
Dublin, OH
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